His Beatitude, the Most Blessed '''Tikhon (Mollard) of Washington''' was elected [[primate]] of the [[Orthodox Church in America]] (OCA) at the 17th [[All-American Council]]. His title is "Archbishop of [[Diocese of Washington (OCA)|Washington]], Metropolitan of All American and Canada, [[Locum tenens]] of the [[Diocese of Eastern Pennsylvania (OCA)|Diocese of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania]]".

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His Beatitude, the Most Blessed '''Tikhon (Mollard) of Washington''' was elected [[primate]] of the [[Orthodox Church in America]] (OCA) at the 17th [[All-American Council]]. His title is "Archbishop of [[Diocese of Washington (OCA)|Washington]], Metropolitan of All America and Canada, [[Locum tenens]] of the [[Diocese of Eastern Pennsylvania (OCA)|Diocese of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania]]".

==Life==

==Life==

Bishop Tikhon was born Marc R. Mollard in Boston, Massachusetts on [[July 15]], 1966, the oldest of three children born to Francois and Elizabeth Mollard. After brief periods living in Connecticut, France, and Missouri, he and his family settled in Reading, Pennsylvania, where he graduated from Wyomissing High School in 1984. In 1988 he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in French and Sociology from Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, after which he moved to Chicago, where he attended services at Ss. Peter and Paul Church ([[OCA]]).

Bishop Tikhon was born Marc R. Mollard in Boston, Massachusetts on [[July 15]], 1966, the oldest of three children born to Francois and Elizabeth Mollard. After brief periods living in Connecticut, France, and Missouri, he and his family settled in Reading, Pennsylvania, where he graduated from Wyomissing High School in 1984. In 1988 he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in French and Sociology from Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, after which he moved to Chicago, where he attended services at Ss. Peter and Paul Church ([[OCA]]).

Life

Bishop Tikhon was born Marc R. Mollard in Boston, Massachusetts on July 15, 1966, the oldest of three children born to Francois and Elizabeth Mollard. After brief periods living in Connecticut, France, and Missouri, he and his family settled in Reading, Pennsylvania, where he graduated from Wyomissing High School in 1984. In 1988 he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in French and Sociology from Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, after which he moved to Chicago, where he attended services at Ss. Peter and Paul Church (OCA).

After receiving his Master of Divinity degree from St. Tikhon's in 1993, he was appointed as an instructor in Old Testament Studies there. He continues to serve as senior lecturer in Old Testament, teaching master's level courses in the prophets and the Psalms and Wisdom Literature. He is also an instructor in the seminary's extension studies program, offering courses in the lives of the Old Testament saints, the liturgical use of the Old Testament, and the Old Testament in patristic literature.

Archimandrite Tikhon collaborated with Igumen Alexander (Golitzin) in the publication of "The Living Witness of the Holy Mountain," published by St. Tikhon Seminary Press, by illustrating this classic book about Mount Athos.

In December 2002, he was appointed by Metropolitan Herman to serve as deputy abbot of St. Tikhon's Monastery. Archimandrite Tikhon was consecrated to the episcopacy at the monastery on Saturday, February 14, 2004 by his Beatitude Herman, becoming Bishop of South Canaan.

On October 29, 2005, Bishop Tikhon was officially installed as the ruling hierarch of the Diocese of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania during Divine Liturgy at the Saint Stephen Cathedral.